News
Tinubu Christmas Rice: Senators, Reps, constituency members clash
While some reports claimed the President had given Senators and House of Representatives members funds, the lawmakers and members of their constituencies are singing different tunes.
Spokesman and Chairman, House Committee on Information, Akin Rotimi, said the legislators were given palliatives and not money from the President, further deepening the controversy surrounding the matter.
He said the palliatives were given to them through the Ministry of Agriculture.
A presidential aide, Segun Dada, had, on his X handle, said the President gave palliatives worth N200 million and N100 million respectively to Senators and members of the lower arm of NASS.
He said: “After Initial logistics delay, I can now confirm that Senators and members of the House of Representatives have started taking stock of the Federal Government’s palliative items for their constituents as part of efforts to ease life for all Nigerians.
“Each HoR member received items worth N100m while Senatorial constituencies got palliative items worth N200m.’’
Also, in a viral video, the lawmaker representing Etsako Federal Constituency, Dekeri Anamero, alluded to such.
But some senators and members of House of Representatives, who confided in Sunday Vanguard, denied receiving monetary or any type of gifts for their constituents.
Further findings at the constituencies of the lawmakers across the country, also revealed that majority are neither aware of the largesse nor haven’t received it.
BORNO/YOBE:
In Borno and Yobe states, residents told Sunday Vanguard they didn’t receive such gestures from the lawmakers or any of their representatives. In Askira Uba Federal Constituency, Mallam Audu Isa, from Hawul, admitted receiving rice and condiments distributed by a lawmaker, Dr. Usman Balami, but said such a gesture was the legislator’s gift to his constituents.
He said the items were not from President Tinubu.
Another resident of Damaturu, Mohammed Gujba, said there was nothing like palliatives from President Tinubu.
“I can tell you that it is not true, because there was nothing like palliatives coming from President Tinubu through senators or House of Representatives members as being insinuated,” Gujba stated.
However, some federal lawmakers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a promise was only made to them by the federal government, but nothing was provided.
According to one of them, “What happened was that the federal government has promised to assist constituents through National Assembly members and Federal Ministry of Agriculture, but even the bills of quantity have not been perfected, not to mention contractors supplying the items.”
Another lawmaker, who pleaded anonymity, said:” My attention has been drawn to a video in circulation made by a colleague and Member of the House of Representatives, with gubernatorial ambition in Edo State, Anamero Dekeri, informing the public that all members of the 10th Assembly were given four trailers load of rice for their various federal constituencies.
”This information is not only spurious but also misleading. As the member representing the federal constituency, I can categorically say that not one bag of rice has been given by / supplied by the federal government of Nigeria for distribution to any constituency.”
IMO:
Residents of Imo State said they weren’t aware of any Christmas palliative given to their lawmakers by President Tinubu.
In the 10 federal constituencies and three senatorial districts, nobody admitted to having received any gesture in that direction. Some President-Generals of communities said no lawmaker contacted them about any Christmas gift from President Tinubu.
KWARA:
Of the three senators in Kwara State, namely Senator Sadiq Abubakar, representing Kwara North, Senator Saliu Mustapha of Kwara Central and Senator Lola Ashiru, representing Kwara South, only the latter failed to distribute the palliatives meant for the people of Kwara South.
Sunday Vanguard findings across Kwara South Senatorial District revealed that no item branded palliative was given to people of the constituency during the yuletide.
It was, however, learnt that Senator Saliu Mustapha of Kwara Central and Senator Sadiq Abubakar, Kwara North, distributed palliatives such as rice and groundnut oil among others during the yuletide.
Sunday Vanguard gathered that lorry loads of items such as small rebagged rice, groundnut oil and bags of Semovita among others branded in their names were reportedly distributed to their constituencies by their aides. It was done through representatives of various groups and associations during the yuletide.
What is not clear is whether the palliatives were among those said to have been provided by President Tinubu through the Ministry of Agriculture.
Similarly, the six members of House of Representatives from the state were said to have distributed food items to their constituencies.
ONDO:
A cross-section of those interviewed in Ondo State denied receiving food items from their representatives in NASS.
Also, two legislators said they didn’t receive any Christmas palliative from President Bola Tinubu.
Speaking in Akure, the Senator representing Ondo Central, Niyi Adegbonmire, said no food item was distributed to them by the federal government for onward distribution to their constituents.
Also speaking at a town hall meeting in Idanre, to update his people on his six-month stewardship, Festus Akingbaso, who represents ldanre/ lfedore Federal Constituency, said government only pledged to send the items.
His words:”We have not received any food item as palliatives. Although the federal government promised to send the palliatives to members of the National Assembly, we are yet to receive the food items.
“ The food items I distributed were purchased by me. If we receive the promised food items from the government, we’ll distribute them to our constituents.”
OYO:
In Oyo, residents said they were yet to receive anything. At Mokola area of Ibadan, people standing in a cluster said they were not expecting anything from lawmakers.
Speaking on behalf of the crowd under Mokola flyover, Mr Jimoh Alake, a popular grocery seller, said, “if the government has any palliative for us, it shouldn’t be shared through those legislators who are only interested in their welfare and that of their cronies.”
Mama Ayo, a printer in Ago Tapa area of the city, dismissed the question of whether she was given any palliative, hysterically.
“We are in big trouble in this country, “ she said.
A lawyer, Mr Taiwo Adediran, said, “government knows what to do if it actually wants to help Nigerians. It is not ready to help Nigerians. They created the Bank Verification Number, BVN, so why can’t they use the BVN to distribute such money? I believe government indirectly gifted the senators money and not the masses.
“If anyone commits an offence, don’t they know how to trace the person? When it comes to the sharing of money, they use the legislators. “ OSUN:
In Osun, it was learnt that most of the lawmakers did not distribute any sort of palliative.
Members of various constituencies said they only heard about the said palliatives, but didn’t receive any from their legislators.
Adedayo Adedeji, who is from Atakumosa-West in Ijesa-South Federal Constituency, challenged his lawmaker, Sanya Omirin, to tell the people the true story about the palliative.
Sunday Vanguard
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has disclosed that there are two main reasons a former Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Uche Nnaji, is being detained by the commission.
It also revealed that legal action was taken against the Enugu-born politician after he failed to honour several invitations extended to him through a letter referenced ICPC/HC/CSTF/GUN/GBT/T.1/VOLV16, and dated 15 May 2026.
John Odey, the spokesman of the commission in a statement on Wednesday explained that the commission later approached Federal High Court, Abuja Division, with the suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1160/2026) in order to effect Nnaji’s arrest after his failure to honour invitation.
Nnaji was arrested at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, when he boarded a private jet to Abuja.
Corroborating the development, the ICPC spokesman said Nnaji’s arrest was effected at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, upon his arrival where he was led to the commission’s custody immediately.
According to him, Nnaji is being probed on forgery of academic credentials, specifically concerning a degree certificate from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) and False National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Discharge Certificate, which was submitted during his ministerial screening process in 2023.
The statement read, “The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has arrested the immediate past Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Hon. Geoffrey Uchechukwu Nnaji (M), following the execution of a bench warrant issued by the Federal High Court of Nigeria.
“The arrest was effected on Wednesday, 1st July 2026 at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, upon Mr. Nnaji’s arrival.
“He was apprehended with the assistance of the Department of State Services (DSS) and subsequently handed over to the ICPC for further investigation.
“The Commission had earlier extended formal invitations to the former minister through a letter referenced ICPC/HC/CSTF/GUN/GBT/T.1/VOLV16, dated 15 May 2026.
“The invitation notices were duly served to his known addresses in Abuja and Enugu, as well as via his electronic mail address.
“Despite service through multiple channels, Mr. Nnaji failed to appear for investigative interviews on the scheduled dates, necessitating further legal action.
“The legal action followed a court order granted by the Federal High Court in the Abuja Judicial Division (Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1160/2026).
“The order, issued on 11 June 2026, directed the ICPC to arrest the former minister to enable investigation into allegations bordering on:
“Forgery of academic credentials, specifically concerning a degree certificate from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN); and “False National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Discharge Certificate, which was submitted during his ministerial screening process in 2023.
“Following the arrest, Mr. Nnaji has been taken into custody at the ICPC headquarters in Abuja, where investigations are expected to continue. The Commission assures the public that the matter will be pursued diligently in accordance with the law.”
The immediate past Minister of Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, was arrested on Wednesday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on arrival from Enugu via a chartered flight.
Authoritative sources at the airport confirmed the arrest to PREMIUM TIMES, saying Mr Nnaji would be handed over to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for interrogation.
The reported arrest comes weeks after the Federal High Court reportedly granted the ICPC permission to arrest and investigate Nnaji over the allegations.
The court also authorised the anti-graft agency to declare him wanted through newspapers, social media platforms and other media channels after the commission alleged that he repeatedly failed to honour invitations for questioning.
According to the ICPC, its application to the court followed Nnaji’s alleged refusal to appear before investigators despite several invitations relating to the forgery allegations.
The case stems from a two-year investigation published by Premium Times in October last year, which alleged that Nnaji submitted forged University of Nigeria degree and National Youth Service Corps certificates during his ministerial screening and confirmation process in 2023.
The report alleged that the documents were presented to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Nigerian Senate, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the State Security Service.
According to the publication, Nnaji later acknowledged that the University of Nigeria did not issue him the degree certificate in question, a development the newspaper said corroborated its investigation.Newspapers
The former minister had previously denied the existence of the court order authorising his arrest, dismissing the publication as a “media trial.”
However, on June 18, he reportedly filed an appeal before the Court of Appeal, seeking to overturn the arrest order.
As of the time of filing this report, the ICPC had not issued an official statement confirming the reported arrest, while Nnaji’s legal team had yet to publicly respond to the latest development.
The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Tuesday, restored the bail it had earlier granted to activist and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore.
Sowore is facing a two-count cybercrime charge filed against him by the Department of State Services (DSS) for calling President Bola Tinubu a “criminal” in a social media post.
Trial Justice Muhammed Umar, who had earlier granted the defendant bail on self-recognisance, on June 16 revoked the bail and issued a warrant for his arrest.
The order came after Sowore failed to appear before the court for the continuation of his trial, even though he wrote a letter explaining his absence and requesting a new date.
When proceedings resumed in the case on June 22, Justice Umar ordered the remand of the defendant in Kuje prison.
Dissatisfied with the actions the court took against him, Sowore—whose legal team had initially withdrawn from the case over alleged bias by the judge—secured a new lawyer, who promptly filed a motion to restore his bail and quash the arrest warrant.
When the case came up on Tuesday, Justice Umar held that he was minded to admit the defendant to bail.
However, the court listed some conditions that had to be met before he would be released from prison custody.
Aside from granting him bail to the tune of N200 million, the court held that the defendant must produce two sureties in like sum.
The court also ordered the defendant to surrender his international passport.
Related News
2027 Polls: Court orders INEC to register, grant access code to ADA wiithin 72 hours
NDC, Peter Obi, Sowore, Bolaji, Paul Ibe, PDP reject Lokoja court ruling
Sowore’s detention undermines fair trial, free speech — Gani Adams, Odumakin
Sowore, in the application he anchored on Sections 35(4), 36(1), and 66 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, as well as Sections 169 and 352 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, insisted that the orders the court made against him were unjust and unwarranted.
The defendant had, on December 2, 2025, pleaded not guilty to the charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/484/2025, filed against him by the Department of State Services (DSS).
The charges allege offences under Sections 24(1)(b) and 24(2)(a), (b), and (c) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024.
The offending posts, made on August 25, 2025, were in response to President Tinubu’s claim, made in Brazil, that his administration had ended corruption in Nigeria.
Angered by the posts, the DSS demanded that X Inc. (formerly Twitter) and Meta Platforms Inc. ban Sowore’s accounts and remove the posts.
The security agency also wrote to Sowore, asking him to delete the posts from all platforms.
Non-compliance with the request led to the charges.
The prosecution claims the defamatory posts were intended to cause a breakdown of law and order and to tarnish the president’s reputation.
Exhibits include printouts of the posts and the DSS letters.
X Inc. and Meta were initially co-defendants but were delisted in the amended charge.
-
News2 days agoBREAKING: Ex-Minister Uche Nnaji arrested over alleged certificate forgery probe
-
News3 days ago
Peter Obi’s name uploaded on INEC portal as NDC presidential candidate as party files stay of execution
-
News2 days ago
Downpour triggers widespread flooding in Lagos
-
News2 days ago
Alleged Cybercrime: Court grants Sowore N200m bail, orders two sureties, passport surrender
-
International2 days ago
Thousands flee South Africa as anti-immigrant deadline sparks nationwide protests
-
Uncategorized23 hours ago
Kenneth Okonkwo eats his words, emerges as Atiku’s spokesperson
-
News3 days ago
Rampaging soldiers invade university hostels, assault students, seize phones
-
News23 hours ago
ICPC: Why we detained ex-minister uche Nnaji
